Journey of Jenny 5000
by Johnnie Zombie
Summary: The daughter of the Tenth Doctor, Jenny has left Messaline in search of adventure. When her small shuttle takes her into contested space, Jenny finds herself drafted into a war.
1. Chapter 1

Jenny was bored.

Her small shuttle was weaving its way through a densely packed asteroid field, the giant glittering rocks dwarfing her ship and casting cold shadows over the viewport. Jenny had set the shuttle on autopilot, trusting the guidance system to navigate between the ever-shifting rocks faster and with more precision than she could ever hope to achieve.

Since leaving her home planet of Messaline, Jenny had come to the conclusion that space travel would not be as glamorous as she had envisioned it. Outer space was just mostly that; empty space filled with dust and rocks and gas and-

"Scorpions?" Jenny said aloud, sitting forward in her chair. "Giant space scorpions?"

The shuttle's sensors, a modest technology at best, suddenly picked up a vessel flying in hot on a parallel course. Jenny was able to make out a vague arthropodal configuration and aft weapons fully charged. "Well what's this, then?"

Close behind the insectoid ship was another vessel, this one with a more industrial design; a boxy, gunmetal hull with rows of exhaust pipes belching a violet-hued radiation in putrid clouds. One massive cannon was perched atop the prow of the pursuing ship and its muzzle was red-hot.

With a great concussive force, the cannon launched a gigantic spherical ammunition that, upon reaching the first layer of the asteroid belt, split into hundreds of small bladed gyros. The fragments began to spin at incredible speeds, the blades shining an electric blue. Jenny watched in fascination as the ammunition cut through the asteroids in seconds, slashing a path for the radioactive ship.

Jenny slapped at the autopilot switch and sat at full attention, already plotting an exit strategy. She took the shuttle higher, hoping she would be mistaken for a stray asteroid propelled by solar winds. With the two ships engaged in battle, Jenny hoped she could evade detection until she was clear of the field.

From her sensors, Jenny saw the scorpion ship open fire, but the pulses never hit their mark. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the radiation pouring out of the pursuing vessel was obstructing targeting scanners.

The scorpion ship was weaving through the asteroids with practiced ease, denoting a familiarity with the environment.

"Some sort of natural defense system?" Jenny wondered aloud.

On sensors, Jenny detected a transmission of some kind emanating from the lead ship. "Calling for reinforcements are ya?" the soldier asked, her young face tightening. "I don't think I'd like to be here when the cyclone comes."

Jenny's console rang out an alarm. Scrutinizing her board, Jenny saw the asteroids flare with an energy buildup. "Okay, maybe not so natural a defense system."

Through her viewport, the young woman saw several hundred of the larger asteroids glowing with a yellow crackle of energy. Within seconds, the stored power burst from hidden emitters and began to link up with the other asteroids, creating a latticework of light. Monitoring her sensor readout, Jenny witnessed the small gyros being burnt to nothing as they encountered the field. The industrial vessel altered course to outrun the connective field, but within moments it would be caught in the lethal grid.

Being small and infinitely more mobile, Jenny maintained a parallel course with the scorpion ship, hoping it knew how to keep ahead of the belt's incendiary network.

Behind the shuttle, the massive ship tried to veer its course to avoid the grid, but its aft starboard section collided with the field, eliciting a blossom of heat and energy. Bulkheads, cabling, and indeterminable debris spiraled out into space before they too were vaporized to atomic dust. The vessel teetered precariously before smashing into an asteroid, the hull crushed into a third of its size.

The destruction of the ship ignited the exhaust and an explosion knocked Jenny off her course, putting her into the path of the scorpion ship. Jenny struggled with the controls, tried to regain altitude, but the communications array assured her it was too late.

"You are trespassing into Imperial Kal territory." A vicious, hissing voice informed her. "Power down your shuttle and prepare to be towed to Military Outpost Alpha."

"Listen, as much as I'd love to drop in for tea, I really should get going. But leave me your communications frequency and we'll arrange a proper date."

"Power down your shuttle. This is your final warning!"

From the ship's aft, a maglock launcher emerged and fired a blunt, harpoon-like projectile that latched onto Jenny's shuttle. Jenny poured every bit of the small ship's power into the thrusters, but the spear reacted with a discharge of energy that shut down the shuttle's primary systems.

"You and your vessel are now properties of the Kal Empire." The snakelike voice informed her as he pulled Jenny out of the asteroid field and towards a massive moon fragment.

"Oh bollocks," Jenny whined as she kicked up her feet onto the console. At the very least, Jenny was happy to find that she had been wrong about the uneventfulness of space travel.


	2. Chapter 2

Flying low over the surface of the moon shard, Jenny saw how unnervingly impressive Military Outpost Alpha was. The armies on Messaline could learn a thing or two from the Kal. Dozens of soldiers in envirosuits drilled in the reduced gravity, practicing their marksmanship and hand-to-hand with machine-like uniformity. The Kal structures were models of efficiency and militaristic minimalism; carved from the very flesh of the moon, the bunkers and storehouses were immaculate squares lined up in perfect rows, radiating from a larger structure in the center. It must be the hangar, since Jenny's escort made a beeline directly for it.

Inside the brightly lit building, the scorpion-like raider towed Jenny's shuttle in a wide space directly in front of a bank of starship diagnostic consoles. It was there that a squad of soldiers stood, filed as neatly as the buildings that comprised the outpost. Standing before them was what must have been the executive officer, if the garishly large medals on his neatly-pressed uniform gave any indication.

Jenny's shuttle doors opened automatically and the young woman stepped out, gave her captors a bright smile.

"Nice place you've got here," she began, shoving her hands into the pockets of her fatigues and looking at her surroundings. "Any chance you've got a bathroom? The can on the shuttle has been inoperable for three days and I've begun to run out of cups-"

"Silence!" the decorated officer barked, his voice booming in the cavernous interior of the hangar bay. "You are in the presence of Base Commander Shall, and you will speak only when directly addressed. Is that clear?"

Jenny blinked.

"I'm sorry, was that a direct address? Should I begin with Mother Shall I before I say anything if I'm not one hundred percent?"

"You are dressed like a soldier but you speak without protocol or respect. That will change from this moment on."

Base Commander Shall was tall and imposingly built. His serpentine face was scaled, his skin a slick emerald color, splotched with black dots running down the length of his forehead and neck. When he spoke, Jenny saw his forked tongue poke through a row of wicked fangs.

"Whom do you work for? You don't look like any of the Qor I've encountered. Are you a mercenary? Are you part of an alien reconnaissance fleet? How large is your force?"

Jenny scrunched her nose and held up her hand, holding up a series of fingers as she responded.

"No one. The who? No. No. And one. Just me. Jenny." Visibly losing patience, Shall took a step forward.

"You are telling me that you wear the garments of war but are aligned to no armed force?" Jenny shrugged.

"Haven't had much time to hit the shops."

Shall turned to another officer and nodded in her direction.

"Take the spy to processing. I want her ready for the Draft by 0500."

"Sir!" the underling snapped to attention, then quickly moved forward and accosted Jenny by the arm. Without thinking, Jenny spun smoothly behind the soldier, locked their arms together and brought it up high against his back until she heard a satisfying _pop_ of bone. The soldier hissed in pain and dropped to his knees.

"I must admit, Base Commander Shall, I rather don't like the sound of the Draft. What is it?"

The other soldiers had brought up their pulse rifles, their slitted eyes narrowed behind targeting reticules of light. "I wouldn't shoot if I were you lot." Jenny smirked, using her free arm to gesture behind her. "One stray shot-and by the look of your men, a stray shot is _inevitable_-you'll blow up your diagnostic consoles and that box mounted on the wall behind them. I'm going to assume that would be the hangar's gravity generator. I doubt you'd want to risk being unable to scramble a flight in the event of a military incursion because your raiders are playing dodge 'em cars on the ceiling." Jenny took a breath and smiled again, applying more pressure to the soldier's arm and being met with another throaty hiss. "Now, the Draft?"

To Jenny's surprise, Shall grinned wolfishly and ordered his men to lower their weapons.

"You are not as helpless as your appearance would indicate." the commander said approvingly. "Release my lieutenant and we shall exchange information the proper way."

Upon seeing Jenny's skepticism, Shall added, "You have my word."

After a moment's hesitation, Jenny relinquished her hold on the Kal soldier and shoved her hands back into her pockets.

"Very well. But about that bathroom..."


	3. Chapter 3

The mess hall stood in stark contrast to the rest of the facility.

The windows looking out into the blasted lunarscape were covered in blood red sheer curtains, emblazoned with what could be the emblem of the Kal Empire. The tables were carved from a rough limestone, set low to the floor, which explained the lack of seating. The kitchen was abuzz with activity and the most mouth-watering aromas Jenny had ever smelled.

Commander Shall proudly led the young woman to the largest table and gestured for her to take a seat. Folding her legs beneath her, Jenny sat opposite the executive officer.

"So, this is the imperial mess," Jenny said. "Your soldiers must be treated well." The Kal smiled, the action still unnerving and not at all pleasant, and puffed up his chest.

"The dining hall is a powerful morale booster. The consumption of our meals revitalizes us, invigorates us for the daunting missions ahead."

"Right. Missions. What exactly is this war with the Qor about?"

"What most wars are about, little one." Shall replied. "Supremacy. Establishing whom is atop the food chain." Another jagged grin. "So to speak."

"I have a hard time believing that this war is about ego. Are the political powers in this system really that insecure?"

"The Kal Empire and the Qor Hegemony have attempted to establish peaceful relations, but to little effect. The Qor have experienced a long industrial revolution, allowing them to become part of the galactic stage. We initially welcomed our systemic neighbors, but when we discovered why the Qor were faring the stars, we closed off our borders."

A crewman approached the table and set down two tall ornate glasses, each filled with a thick, pink liquid.

"This is a delicacy among my people." Shall interrupted himself, gesturing at the drinks. "It is a drink consumed only by soldiers, by those willing to put their lives on the front lines to serve the interests of the empire."

"I'm not fighting your war. I can't drink this." Jenny stated, intent on stomaching the Kal's twisted sense of hospitality only for as long as an escape presented itself.

"But you are a warrior, Miss Jenny. Let us drink together, celebrate the nature of what we are."

"You haven't the faintest idea of my nature." Jenny narrowed her eyes. _But frankly, neither do I... _

"It would be a great dishonor to refuse," Shall said, his slick voice tinged with warning. "Honor and tradition are founding principles of my people. They matter a great deal to me."

Sighing inwardly, Jenny grabbed her glass and raised it to her lips. She took a small sip and her eyes popped in surprise.

"This is...bloody brilliant." Jenny took a long draught of the delicious tincture. In her short existence, Jenny had never tasted anything so sweet and rich.

"I am pleased you like it." Shall said, mirroring Jenny's eager consumption. Once their glasses were empty and taken away, Jenny remembered what they had been discussing before the crewman had interrupted them.

"Why were the Qor setting off into space, then?"

"Their revolution had deeply impacted their planet's ecosystem. They were poisoning their world, and they sought a new place to colonize."

"So they invaded?" Jenny guessed. Shall shook his head, the scales of his neck scraping almost musically as a result.

"The Qor took one look at the majesty of Kalloran and asked for our methods of agriculture and city planning. They wanted to live in harmony with the earth, as the Kal had, even when science propelled us into the skies and beyond."

"So what went wrong? Who shot first?"

"Regrettably, that knowledge would forever be lost to history. All we know is that the Qor were not content with settlement permits on our moon fragments, that they could not abide by our laws and ordinances. A firefight broke out on one of the Qor camps and the war was in full swing before we could blink our inner eyelids."

The same crewman returned, now bearing gleaming dinner plates topped with thick cuts of aromatic meat. Jenny's mouth watered as the main course was laid out before her on plates of leafy greens.

"But the war is soon won," Commander Shall said simply before tearing a section of meat and stuffing it into his mouth. Jenny looked down at her plate and noticed a distinct lack of cutlery. Shrugging, the young soldier followed suit, her eyelids fluttering at the savory-sweet taste coating her tongue.

"What makes you say that?" Jenny asked in between mouthfuls of meat.

"Because we are hungry for Qor flesh. And the Kal are masters of indulgence."

Just then, Jenny noticed a luminescent glow about the commander's scales. The soft light pulsed down his throat and spread outward, making his scales sing. His skin shone beautifully and before Jenny could ask what was happening, her vision began to blur and her head quickly met the stone table.


End file.
